Davis: Britain has not formally assessed impact of Brexit on economy

Britain has not conducted formal sector-by-sector analyses of the impact that leaving the European Union will have on the economy, Brexit minister David Davis said on Wednesday (6 December), arguing they were not necessary yet.

The comments inflamed critics of the government’s handling of the complex divorce process at a time when talks with Brussels have stalled because of a row over how to manage the Irish border after Brexit.

Davis has become embroiled in a long-running argument with lawmakers – including from the ruling Conservative Party – over what preparatory work the government has undertaken, and how much of it should be made public.

“There’s no systematic impact assessment I’m aware of,” Davis told a parliamentary committee, saying it would be more appropriate to conduct such analysis later in the negotiating process.

His remarks drew immediate criticism from lawmakers on the committee, who said Davis was contradicting his previous statement that the government had analyses of the sectoral impact that went into “excruciating detail”.

“Whether it’s through incompetence or insincerity, David Davis has been misleading parliament from the start,” said Wera Hobhouse, a member of the Brexit committee from the Liberal Democrat party.

“It is unbelievable that these long-trumpeted impact assessments don’t even exist, meaning the government has no idea what their Brexit plans will do to the country.”

Half of Britons support a second vote on whether to leave the European Union and a majority think the government may be paying too much money to the EU to open the way to trade talks, according to a new opinion poll.

Parliament could have a decisive role in the Brexit process if it blocks or amends the legislation which the government has proposed to enact the divorce.

Prime Minister Theresa May has only a slim working majority in parliament and is vulnerable to rebellion from within her own party, which is divided over the right approach to Brexit.

Davis and his team of ministers have previously said its sectoral analysis is not a formal impact assessment – a technical document submitted to parliament – and that publishing the work it has done could undermine Britain’s negotiating position.

Nevertheless, lawmakers have pressured the government into releasing a summary of its analysis to the committee. On Wednesday, they complained that the analysis given to them was incomplete and called for more detail.

“We will at some stage do the best we can to quantify the effect of different negotiating outcomes as we come up to them – bearing in mind we haven’t started phase two (negotiations) yet,” Davis said, referring to the second phase of talks which will focus on trade.

He said those assessments would look at the impact of different outcomes on sectors including financial services, manufacturing and agriculture.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said he was “surprised and disappointed” on Monday (4 December) after Britain failed to agree to a draft deal with EU leaders on the status of the Irish border after Brexit.

“Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed”

But the move to phase two of talks has been thrown into doubt since the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), sank a proposal on the table on Monday, which would have opened the door to regulatory divergences between the province and the rest of the UK.

The DUP’s ten MPs have a deal to prop up Theresa May’s Conservative government in return for £1.5bn of spending in Northern Ireland.

Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said he could not accept substantial changes to Monday’s rejected text, and that if agreement cannot be reached by the EU summit on 15 December, the first phase of Brexit talks could continue in the new year.

“As far as we’re concerned and as far as the European Commission are concerned … we stand by the text that had been agreed on Monday,” Varadkar told parliament on Wednesday.

“It is the desire and ambition and wish of this government that we should move onto the phase two talks but if it isn’t possible to move to phase two next week because of the problems that have arisen, well then we can pick it up in the new year.”

Varadkar said he understood May had difficult political problems to manage, but it was up to Britain to come back to negotiators in Brussels and Dublin.

May said she had made good progress in Brexit negotiations and that she expected to get a deal that was right for the whole of the United Kingdom.

“We’re leaving the European Union, we’re leaving the single market and the customs union but we will do what is right in the interests of the whole United Kingdom,” May told parliament. “And nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.”

Negotiations in Northern Ireland have a law of their own. The Good Friday Agreement came about after months of painstaking diplomacy between London, Belfast and Dublin. Brexit will be no different, writes Dr Melanie Sully.

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Comments

5 responses to “Davis: Britain has not formally assessed impact of Brexit on economy”

since from the beginning, brexiteers have been pursuing deceptive fallacies to bribe the electorate to lean their way, it’s only normal for them to flounder when faced with the reality to implement their chimera

I think this is a bit unfair. Davies the Dolt has been shown to be a hypocrite & lair (that said – it can be reasonably claimed that all Tories are congential hypocrites & liars) – Brexshitter in chief – Far-rage has on a regular basis been shown to lie – & yet & yet – UK serfs & fore-lock tugging peasants continue to vote toryvermin – self-harm on a national scale?

Davies the Dolt could not plan a piss-up in a brewery & thus it is no surprise that things are proceeding in the way that they are. Morons in charge & full tilt to the cliff edge & over.

Actually, I’ll add another thing. The actions of the Brexsahitters in government are, arguably, treasonous. They know that any exit from the EU will be harmful to the UK as a whole. A hard Brexit falls in to Donald Bumsfeldt territory – an unknown unknown – the only certainty being significant economic upheaval and damage.

In a normal country, citizens deliberately harming a country usually appear in court – the charge depending on what they have done. In the case of the Brexshitters – in my view – they are guilty of high treason & should be tried for it. The prosecution should aim for manadatory life sentences – that would focus minds. The chief Breshitters (all very well off) treat all this as “a bit of a larf” – let’s get them in prison for life & see how funny they find it then.

Davis is a congenital liar:
Andrew Marr Show on 25 June 2017, Davies:
” I am being very clear about this… In my job… I don’t make guesses… You make those [decisions] based on the data… We’ve got 50, nearly 60, sectoral analyses already done…”

You know when Davies is lying – he opens his trap & speaks. Barnier needs to keep this in mind – he is dealing with a congenital liar & fantasist – everything Davies says needs to be checked & double checked.